Day 16 Luke
Chapter 16
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until
John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been
preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. But it is easier for
heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law
to fail” {vv.16-17}.
This chapter sixteen is a continual rebuke to the Pharisees
who believed they were more righteous because they had wealth. They believed that
financial wealth was a sign of God’s blessing on them. So if you were poor, God’s
blessing was not on your life. But Jesus responded to them that God alone knows
the heart and only He can judge who is righteous and who is not; money is not
that judge. They cannot justify themselves by their wealth or religious
standing. Jesus rightly informed them that He was not impressed with their
outward appearance when their hearts clearly were not right; they have
misunderstood the blessing of God’s covenant. There were many righteous people in
the Old Testament who did not have riches and many unrighteous who were rich.
Jesus once again reveals the hearts of these particular Pharisees
when He explains the Law to them. With the arrival of John the Baptist as Jesus
forerunner came the arrival of God’s kingdom and brought to completion the Law
and the Prophets. Many people, including the Pharisees, were trying to force
their way into the kingdom by other means that what John—and Jesus—were teaching.
Regardless of their self-justification, they were not even living according to
God’s Law.
The fulfillment of the Law does not mean an end to the Law. Because
of Jesus’ sinless, perfect, once-and-for-all sacrifice, the sacrificial requirements
of the Law were no longer needed. The principle of the Law, however, did not
conclude and they (and we) are required to live by the principle of the Law
which was administered by angels. Paul later rebukes the religious leaders for
the same heart issue:
“Which one of the prophets did your fathers not
persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the
Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you
who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep
it” {Acts 7:52-53 NASB}.
God’s eternal laws and principles did not cease. We must
still live out love, faith, hope, and loving our neighbors, and putting God
first in our lives.
Let’s purpose through this Advent to continue to live out
the principles of God’s Law, which Christ declared should now be written on our
hearts. Let’s put God first in our lives—this Advent—and beyond and give Him
our very best.
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